Return of a Friend
by Optimistic Lyricist
Summary: Following the events of "Doctor, I Need A Favor" and "The Two Clever Doctors", The Doctor and John Watson return from traveling back to London but when they get there, The Doctor notices and confronts a figure he thought was long gone...Sherlock Holmes. Very mild language, but Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

Sherlock Holmes just saw his friend John Watson in a broken mess one minute and then he saw him enter the blue box with the strange looking man and disappeared the next. So many things were going his mind at once...one being regret and shame for what he's done to Watson, the only person who cared for him...the only person he really cared for himself. Still, he knew this was for the best. He thought this was for the best. At the same time, amazement at the sight of the TARDIS and The Doctor. Speaking of...just a few seconds later, the TARDIS appeared again. At the moment...Sherlock began to walk away just as The Doctor was walking out.

"John, get off the bloody phone! We're..."

The Doctor froze when he saw a figure from a far walking away. He saw the coat and the hair and that scarf and he knew exactly who it was.

"...home."

John walks out, but The Doctor is blocking him; from exiting and from the ugly truth. He just got him through all the pain of losing Sherlock. He doesn't want to make matters worse by revealing he never really lost him.

"Alright Doctor I'm coming. It's just that...Clara has this...comforting voice that I can just listen to all day you know?"

"Yeah...yeah."

John is confused by how...off...The Doctor is acting.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I'm peachy. How are you is the question? Do you feel...better?"

John contemplates the question for a proper answer.

"You know...I really do. I still miss Sherlock a great deal, but I'll manage. You got me through the worse with these trips. Now I'm able to smile. I can see the sun shine. I can even say his name now. I have you to thank for that Doctor and for all you've done...I am eternally grateful."

He gives The Doctor a big hug.

"Thank you, Doctor. Now excuse me. Time to get home. I hope to see you again one day."

The Doctor glances out before stepping aside.

"I'm not going John. Not yet anyhow. I said I was gonna have a break in London and I might as well stay in London just for a bit.

"Oh great. You wanna go get a coffee?"

"Maybe later. I'm gonna site see for now."

"Alone?"

"Yeah. Nothing personal. Just...I can't remember the last time I had a quiet walk you know?"

John is confused, but he rolls with it.

"Well, ok. Well, if you wanna drop by you know where I live."

"See ya later."

The two go in separate directions.

Sherlock is still walking. He walks into an alley when a dark figure comes out and slams him against the wall. The dark figure screams...

"WHY?"

"Good to see you too Doctor. How did you catch up so fast?"

The Doctor explodes even more.

"WHY?! WHY ARE YOU ALIVE?! WHY LIVE THIS LIE?!"

"It's complicated. I'll be glad to explain if you let me go."

The Doctor lets go and tries to contain his rage as The Doctor wipes his coat. The Doctor slicks his hair back as his mind is racing with confusion. In a very cold way, he says...

"Explain."

"What do you wanna know first? Why I fell or why I stayed dead?"

"The whole thing."

"Well, I'm sure John told you about Moriarty, right?"

The Doctor nods yes.

"He told me if I hadn't jumped, he would kill every single one of the people I love. Then he shot himself so his henchman's only 'orders' would be seeing my fall."

The Doctor is confused.

"Shot himself? But they never found a body."

"Please let me finish."

Doctor does just that.

"So, I jumped."

"How'd you survive?"

"I fell on a truck and it broke my fall."

"But you were declared dead?"

"Molly helped me with that. She hated the thought of hiding a secret, but after some heavy persuasion, she agreed to fake my death certificate, inject me with a serum that will slow my heart rate to appear dead to others, and she agreed to keep me...dead."

"Molly? The Molly that John says had a crush on you? Jesus...so John has two friends lying to him?"

"It had to be done."

"Why?"

"As long as I'm alive, everyone around me is in danger. I'm an informality. An inconvenience."

"An inconvenience? You have people who care for you. You can stay in the shadows, but don't keep them in the dark."

"It's not that simple."

"Believe me I know. It's a long story, but let's just say John Smith kept me in the shadows for as long as I could bare."

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter. THIS however does matter. You have to at least tell him. There is a man, your best friend, he's in pieces and you watching him drown from the shadows is the most cruel thing I've seen in my 900 years in this universe. So what, you're gonna be a watcher for the rest of your life? Too scared to confront your problems head on so you watch as others suffer? It's pathetic."

"It's pathetic? Really? Coming from you? I've done some research on the legend of *sarcastically* the infamous Doctor. From what I know, you're nothing but an old man in a tiny box who gets lonely so he plucks some schmuck he finds on the street that you have the slightest interest in. You travel with them. You even feed them, clothe them, provide a box over their heads like children. Pets better yet. You have some good times, yes, but when the bad times come, these 'pets' leave your nest either broken, damaged, or dead. Isn't that what happened with your last two pets? Amy and...who was that peckish bloke again?"

The Doctor gets in Sherlock's face. They are face to face. He'd never been the violent type, but The Doctor never wanted to hit somebody so bad in his life. However, he contains himself as well as his rage, keeping it all in his angry expression.

"His name was Rory Williams you heartless machine and he was more of a warrior than you could ever be. Had more courage and bravery you could ever have; he certainly had the courage to face his problems head on unlike you. How dare you even..."

"Calm down Doctor. No need to get so hostile. What I'm saying is when you lose your pets, isn't it selfish to keep picking up stray animals off the street over and over again until you've got a sea of bodies and broken souls behind you?"

"First of all, don't you ever...EVER, call my friends pets again. Second, I may be selfish and I may put the people I love in danger because of my loneliness...but when they were in danger I tried to save them EVERY SINGLE TIME. I may have not saved all of them and I have been beating myself up about it for so long...I've never forgotten their names...I've never forgotten their faces, but I actually faced the danger, the problems, the devils in their faces to protect the ones I love. I've had enemies and danger and demons chasing me all my life, but I looked them in their eyes without blinking, I took them on just to protect the people I care about. Can you say the same? Oh right, you'd rather run..."

Sherlock looks a bit peeved, but speechless at the same time. The Doctor walks away. Sherlock says...

"I...It has to be done..."

The Doctor scoffs.

"You know...you've been saying that a lot but do you really know...no do you understand what has to be done?"

"..."

"I didn't think so. Now, I refuse to walk away with this lie on my shoulders so either you can come with me to Baker Street and tell John the truth yourself, or are you gonna watch from the shadows?"

"..."

The Doctor walks in front of 221B Baker Street and knocks on the door. He adjusts his tie before John opens up.

"Oh hi Doctor! How was your stroll?"

"It was...it was something...I'll tell ya. Can we come in?"

"Yeah sure. I was just making some tea. Would you like..."

John looks puzzled. The Doctor walks in.

"Wait, did you say 'we'?"

"Yes Jawn..."

In comes Sherlock.

"He did."

John's mouth drops wide open as if he's literally seen a ghost. He just stands there like a statue for a few minutes. Sherlock and him stand eye to eye as The Doctor looks kinda awkward and uncomfortable so he sits down. Then John does something...

He punches Sherlock, doesn't knock him down though.

"You Son of a Bitch!"

"I can explain."

He punches him again, Sherlock wobbles a bit. The Doctor tries to stand between them.

"Calm down! Calm down! There are better ways to..."

Standing in the way, John accidently punches The Doctor and The Doctor spins around like a Charlie Chaplin character before collapsing onto the ground.

He's out cold.


	2. Chapter 2 (The End)

The Doctor is feeling woozy. Still on the ground, he opens his eyes to see Sherlock and John staring each other eye to eye; John on the couch, Sherlock across from him in a chair. For some reason, John is holding an ice pack to his head.

The Doctor struggles to get up.

"Ooh...ow...John you really pack a wallop you know?"

John doesn't answer, still locking eyes with Sherlock.

The Doctor feels like an awkward third wheel.

"Well...so...wait why do you have an ice pack? I was the one knocked out?"

John still doesn't take his eyes off Sherlock.

"After you fell out, I hit Sherlock again and then-"

"Then I hit him and he fell out for a few minutes."

"Speaking of falling..."

"Christ, don't start this again Jawn. I already told you everything what more do you want?"

"You told him everything? That was fast."

"You were knocked out for 3 hours."

"Oh...but you just said John was out for a few minutes."

"And you were out for a few hours."

"So the 3 hours I was out, you told him everything and you two have pretty much been having a staring contest ever since?"

"You catch on fast Doctor. You really are smarter than you look."

"How do I look?"

John is getting anxious.

"Sherlock, you still haven't answered my question."

"You never asked one."

"I would if you give me the chance."

"Hang on a minute, what do you mean how I look?"

"I think there are more pressing matters at hand right now."

"John is getting even more anxious, annoyed, and enraged.

"He's right Doctor. You've been here one day and asked me to hold on a minute. I've held on for weeks because of this bastard!"

He throws down his ice pack.

"I've been feeling broken for weeks! I paid a lot of money for a funeral that only 5 people attended thinking it would be a proper burial for my best friend not knowing he was one of the attendees! I had to plan the funeral all by myself, your brother wasn't any help by the way because he was always away on 'business'. I had to watch Mrs. Hudson be a complete wreck to the point I had to beg her to take a vacation and all I want to know is...what was the point? I understand you didn't want Moriarty's henchmen to come after us, I get that, but you said yourself that you 'took care of them' whatever that means so why stay in the shadows? And don't give me that 'My loneliness protects everyone' crap. I've heard that story before and I can tell in your eyes it's more than that. So I just want a straight answer out of you for once without being a smartass or I swear to God-"

Sherlock gives in.

"Alright Jawn. I didn't want to get you involved but you asked for it. I didn't just 'take care' of those henchmen...I interrogated them."

The Doctor and John both look puzzled.

"When I found out they didn't find Moriarty's body on the roof, I was confused. He died literally right in front of my eyes. There was no magic trick he could have pulled to fake what he did. He was dead and he couldn't have just walked away from that. Someone, somehow, had to have dragged off the roof while everyone was looking at my body without being seen. I needed answers so I found any and everyone connected to Moriarty. I used my...methods... to get answers but I got the same ones every time. All I know is that he's Moriarty's boss, I figured that much. Why Moriarty needed a boss I don't know. All I know is that he's more powerful and apparently dangerous than he was because everyone I talked to said they'd rather have me kill them than face him again after even speaking to me. He also calls himself The King of Hell, and something about a crossroads. That confused me. If I came back, I didn't want to worry about this man coming after all of you."

Sherlock gets up and walks over to John.

"It's been hard on me too not seeing any of you, not directly. I know I've been a bastard and it was cruel of me to leave you all in the dark. I don't know if I'll come out to everyone else yet, but all I know is that I will never, ever do something to any of you, YOU specifically ever again. Friends don't hurt each other, definitely not like this. Friends protect each other and since you're the only one who truly cares about me, my only real friend for that matter, I couldn't ask for anyone better. You will never have to go through this again. I promise. Now, any other questions?"

John leaps up and gives Sherlock the biggest hug you can imagine just before breaking down in tears.

"I MISSED YOU SOOO MUCH!"

"I missed you too Jawn."

Sherlock tries to hold a big smile, but he can't help it being in John's arms.

The Doctor looks touched.

"So you're friends again."

John lets go and pulls himself together.

"We never stopped."

"Good. Even Molly?"

"I forgive Molly."

"Good, good. Well, I'm off. I'm actually feeling better myself. Thank you John for being a friend when I needed one."

"No, no thank you for being a friend when I needed one. By the way, can I ask about Clara?"

"Sorry John, let me be the one to tell you long distance relationships don't turn out well. Believe me. There are other Clara's out there."

John is too happy to be with Sherlock again to be disappointed about Clara.

"Ok. You're right. There probably are."

"I'm sorry, you replaced me with a Clara?"

John giggles.

"I'll tell you later."

Sherlock walks to The Doctor and shakes his hand.

"Pleasure seeing you again Doctor. You have to come back sometime. I really wanna travel in that box of yours."

"I'm sure you'll love it. By the way, what do I look like anyway?"

Sherlock grins.

"A very peculiar fellow, that's for sure."

"I can say the same for you, but I like peculiar. One of my strong points."

The Doctor begins to walk out.

"Well, until next time, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone."

"Oh, we're not..."

"Not at all. We're just...we're not even..."

The Doctor laughs.

"Lighten up, only joking. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Jump to conclusions like that, someone will think the wrong thing."

He giggles as he walks out as John and Sherlock stand there bewildered.

"Where does he get off saying that? We don't give that impression do we?"

"Not at all."

"Good cause you're not exactly my type Jawn. You're gonna have to buy me flowers before trying to woo me. I'm not some common whore after all."

They look at each other and burst out laughing.

END


End file.
